Latest news with #MotherlandAustralia
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- General
- The Advertiser
'We're struggling': calls for childcare subsidy to include grandparents
Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke in southern NSW, about 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment. Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke in southern NSW, about 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment. Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke in southern NSW, about 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment. Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke in southern NSW, about 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment.
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Health
- The Advertiser
'We're struggling': calls for childcare subsidy to include to grandparents
Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke, 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment. Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke, 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment. Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke, 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment. Access to childcare has been an issue for Kate Brow ever since she became a mum eight years ago. Ms Brow lives on a farm on the outskirts of Bibbenluke, 170km south of Canberra. There is only one childcare centre in the nearest town, Bombala. It is often full, and for Ms Brow, who works remotely for the charity Motherland Australia, finding appropriate care for her three young daughters has been a constant source of stress. The situation is exacerbated because her parents and in-laws live between two and seven hours away. Ms Brow is one of more than 12,000 signatories to a petition calling on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be used for a broader range of care options, including grandparents. "What I needed was financial support so I could put in stop gaps, so I could go back to work and it was affordable to go back to work," she told ACM. "The childrens' grandparents have to travel many hours to look after them and being able to pay them to compensate for those expenses or a nanny would help." Ms Brow said the lack of childcare options in regional and rural areas was a "massive" challenge for families. "So many rural mothers that we work with across Australia are not even remotely near a childcare facility," she said. "They just need affordable options (nannies or au pairs) to enable them to contribute to the workforce if that's what they choose to do ." The petition started by For Parents calls on the federal government to allow the childcare subsidy to be broadened to include grandparents, nannies, au pairs and co-working spaces. Currently, the subsidy could only be used at an approved federal government child care service. Co-founder of the petition, Jen Fleming, told ACM that parents needed more choice. "We are in an economy where most families have both parents working to pay off a mortgage," she said. Ms Fleming said the recent scandals in the childcare sector, including Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, who is accused of abusing dozens of children, resulting in thousands of kids requiring STD tests, had left parents "distrustful" and "heartbroken". "We are saying if your child is eligible for the childcare subsidy, you should have more choice for who is looking after them, for some it is a nanny, for others a grandparent," she said. Ms Fleming set up the petition with a couple of other local parents. The mum of two lives in Camp Mountain, a semi-rural area 40km outside of Brisbane. She said when her first child, Elsie, was in childcare, her daughter was routinely sick and did not manage to bond with the staff because of the high number of staff turnover. Ms Fleming described the experience as "traumatic". She now has her own business, and her father and a nanny look after her daughters three days a week. "I'm not a rarity in this," she said. "As part of the petition, I've heard from a range of families who are struggling with this issue." One family said that they could not put their children in childcare because a family member was immunocompromised. "The one-size-fits-all is not working for a lot of people," she said. Federal early childhood education minister Dr Jess Walsh was contacted for comment.
